My Jazzmaster upgrade project

rcaz

There was talk a while ago about posting more DIY instrument jobs on here, so here's my contribution.

I've got a CIJ Jazzmaster that I got about three years ago. About two years ago, I broke the vibrato assembly, which combined with me getting a Telecaster to make for me not playing the JM so much anymore. The Jazzmaster is a great guitar, I absolutely love it, and nothing sounds or feels quite like it, the only reason I haven't been playing it is because it seemed like such a chore to get it back working.

The CIJ Jazzmasters are of a really high build quality, but are let down by poor electronics and hardware (most notably the pickups and vibrato unit). So I figured, while I need to get a new vibrato unit, a new set of pickups would be a massive step up.

So this summer I thought, **** it, I'm getting my guitar working again. It took a while to materialise, because parts seemed very expensive. I had no choice but to buy from the US, and new parts + shipping + customs would have been too much for me at the moment. I kept an eye on some second hand sites, and found a guy selling some Curtis Novak custom 'vintage style' pickups and an AVRI vibrato assembly that he had bought with the intention of building a partsmaster that never came together. Cheap prices and only one shipping bill? Jackpot!

So I'll keep a little project diary here if anyone would like a read

rcaz

Step one: Pickups

I mentioned in the first post that the CIJ pickups really let down the Japanese Jazzmasters. I took a few photos to illustrate the differences.

Stock CIJ pickup;





Curtis Novak JM-V;






You can see there that the CIJ pickup is much taller than the Novak (which is modeled after a vintage Fender JM pickup, from one of the 60s models, IIRC), and the windings are much skinnier. Overall the shape is a lot more like a strat pickup than a proper JM pickup.

Thinking about it would lead me to believe the different sound would be the magnetic field of the pickup covering a greater length of the string? This is coming from studying theoretical physics rather than studying how guitars work. If anyone could explain the practical differences better, I'd love to hear

I soldered them in tonight (that's why the pictures of the Novaks have them installed, I finished putting them in and then thought of posting on here). I plugged into an amp and tapped the pickups with a screw driver and wiggled the toggle switch around a bit, and every position has both pickups 'on'. Deadly. It's late, I'm knackered, I'll do it again tomorrow :rolleyes:

rcaz

A little more speculation with respect to my pickup switching problem... Could it be a bad switch? I checked over my soldering, it doesn't look like I made any mistakes.

fincollins

nice thread man!

for want of a stupider obvious question: was the switch fully functioning before you changed the pups? it may be something basic liked a small bridged connection or something.

i plan on doing this with a crappy-but-savage-neck ibanez that i have lying around gathering dust. thinkin of putting lace sensors in it.

ill be perving on this to see your progress :cool:

rcaz

fincollins wrote: »

nice thread man!

for want of a stupider obvious question: was the switch fully functioning before you changed the pups? it may be something basic liked a small bridged connection or something.

i plan on doing this with a crappy-but-savage-neck ibanez that i have lying around gathering dust. thinkin of putting lace sensors in it.

ill be perving on this to see your progress :cool:

It wasn't working, I figured it might have been a cold solder or something, after desoldering every connection and re-doing it with the new pickups, same problem. So I'll have to get a new switch, I decided the other day.

As it happens, this is much bigger undertaking than I first thought; two of the screws holding the vibrato assembly in place are worn on the head, so I'll need to get a screw extractor and do it the hard way. Now at the moment I can't afford a switch and new tools, so unfortunately it's up on blocks for ANOTHER two-three weeks

rcaz

I let this thread die pretty quickly :pac:

I ended up realising that extracting the screws was way too big a job for me to do on my own, so I dropped it into the guy in Guitar Fix who sorted it out and put the AVRI vibrato in. Then just last week I got the new switch. I just finished putting the whole lot back together about an hour ago and started playing. I forgot how much I loved this guitar! Pics coming soon.

Squirrel

Can't wait for the pics. I love Jazzmasters. Really want to get one but flat broke, got a Squier CV Strat the other day so any money to put towards one is gone now.

flyswatter

I'd imagine the Novaks are a huge improvement over the stock pickups?

I've heard the stock ones sound more like Strat pickups.

rcaz

flyswatter wrote: »

I'd imagine the Novaks are a huge improvement over the stock pickups?

I've heard the stock ones sound more like Strat pickups.

They're different, and I guess for most they're 'better', but if you wanted a JM that sounded a bit stratty then they might be perfect. I like these a lot more though :cool:

rcaz

Here we go!

The guitar after I got it back from Guitar Fix, AVRI vibrato and nothing else in the body.



The electronics mounted on the pickguard, with the old switch that needs replacing.



My professional-level soldering gear warming up on my immaculate tool bench.



Ta-da!



Now I need to test that it works... Toggle the switch while tapping the pickups with a screwdriver.



The bit I always forget to do right before I put the pickguard back on, when I'm dying to play the thing and my soldering iron has cooled down... I have to ground the vibrato! :rolleyes:



Finished!



I then strung it up, plugged in my Big Muff Pi and RE20 Space Echo and gazed at my shoes for an hour or two. I missed this guitar quite a lot

rcaz

I have the least steady hands in the world!

kebn

Great thread El Pr0n, I recently bought a beautiful CIJ jazzmaster and am currently loving it (seriously makes me wonder if there's even any point ever buying a US one).

I have yet to decide about the pickups, I had originally convinced myself that I would be replacing the pickups, that it until I actually heard them and I do quite like them despite the strat-iness. I'm still tempted by the Seymore Duncan Antiquity II ones though.

Just to serve as a warning to myself and others, how did you manage to break the tremolo system? I would very much like to avoid that but I fear that the usual jazz/jag tape "mod" used to raise the tremolo arm is adding a whole lot of extra stress on the system...

rcaz

kebn wrote: »

Great thread El Pr0n, I recently bought a beautiful CIJ jazzmaster and am currently loving it (seriously makes me wonder if there's even any point ever buying a US one).

I have yet to decide about the pickups, I had originally convinced myself that I would be replacing the pickups, that it until I actually heard them and I do quite like them despite the strat-iness. I'm still tempted by the Seymore Duncan Antiquity II ones though.

Just to serve as a warning to myself and others, how did you manage to break the tremolo system? I would very much like to avoid that but I fear that the usual jazz/jag tape "mod" used to raise the tremolo arm is adding a whole lot of extra stress on the system...

I'm sure the tape thing wouldn't make that big a difference. Kevin Shields and all were doing that all through their careers and it worked fine. But I always wondered why they didn't just bend the arm up a bit.

I broke it by wailing on it till it died :pac: I was trying to get some feedback at the end of a gig and pushing and pulling on the vibrato as hard as I could each way to get that lovely rising/falling harmonics sound and when I got home I realised I'd broken the spring and 'collet' inside the vibrato.

rcaz

Never posted a picture with bridge and strings...

Here it is alongside my MIM Telecaster standard!

kebn

You managed to break the spring?! That's kind of impressive. I think the J Mascis signature model has a reinforced collet for that very reason actually. Interesting though, I'll be sure to go easy on it.

As for the tape thing (figured you'd be an MBV fan) instead of just bending the bar, it's pure laziness from my point of view, coupled with the fact that I would NEVER be fully happy with how I'd bent/shaped the thing and would probably end up breaking the thing. I really wish there was a proper raised one, there's definitely a demand for them.

How have you dealt with the usual bridge issues by the way? The whole thing's certainly looking the business now anyway, well done on finishing it.

rcaz

kebn wrote: »

You managed to break the spring?! That's kind of impressive. I think the J Mascis signature model has a reinforced collet for that very reason actually. Interesting though, I'll be sure to go easy on it.

As for the tape thing (figured you'd be an MBV fan) instead of just bending the bar, it's pure laziness from my point of view, coupled with the fact that I would NEVER be fully happy with how I'd bent/shaped the thing and would probably end up breaking the thing. I really wish there was a proper raised one, there's definitely a demand for them.

How have you dealt with the usual bridge issues by the way? The whole thing's certainly looking the business now anyway, well done on finishing it.

It was a CIJ vibrato which have markedly weaker springs, so it's not so hard to break it :pac:

Ah, the old "Jazzmaster bridge issues" thing... What issues? I have gauge 12 strings, moderately high action and I set it up well, the thing plays perfectly if you know how to treat it. These bridges were designed for jazz guys way back when, when 12s were 'light' strings and before low action was 'normal'. If you set these guitars up properly there are no problems.

kebn

Good man, far too many people swapping out the bridges on these things for no good reason when set of 11s or higher seem completely fix any of the usual issues with these things.

Definitely give flatwounds a go at some point, they work incredibly well with the bridge and guitar in general if you're willing to sacrifice some brightness (and money!).

rcaz

kebn wrote: »

Good man, far too many people swapping out the bridges on these things for no good reason when set of 11s or higher seem completely fix any of the usual issues with these things.

Definitely give flatwounds a go at some point, they work incredibly well with the bridge and guitar in general if you're willing to sacrifice some brightness (and money!).

Yeah I defo want to try some flatwounds! Tension's increased with them isn't it?

kebn

The tension's a fair bit higher, definitely. I usually play .12's but moved down to .11's in the flatwounds. They're just a bit lighter than the .12's to be honest.

D'addario have all of the figures:

11 roundwounds;

http://store.daddario.com/category/145800/EXL115_BluesJazz_Rock_11-49

11 flatwounds "Chromes";

http://store.daddario.com/category/145843/ECG24_Chromes_Jazz_Light_11-50

12 roundwounds;

http://store.daddario.com/category/145817/EXL145_Heavy_Plain_3rd_12-54

So far I've been very impressed with the Chromes, do give them a go. They don't take long to get used to, but they're so smooth that they almost feel like they're coated in plastic or something! You only have to adjust the saddle for the G too so not too much effort required to switch over.